Where e'er you go
by GinRyu-chan
Summary: He has to be brave and strong and smart as well as kind and stand up all on his own. Because, even if he may not be here anymore, Yuugi intends to live in a fashion that Atemu would be proud of. Mangaverse, post series. Oneshot. YamiAtemu x Yuugi


This is my way of saying: please stop reading my old stuff, I can write better now.

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Where e'er you go 

_One day, the boy's grandfather gave him a puzzle. The boy was overjoyed and immediately set to work on the puzzle. He made a wish on it. A wish for friendship, companionship, an escape from loneliness._

_The puzzle granted his wish and then some. It gave him a group of friends, better friends than anyone could dream of. It also gave him the spirit of the puzzle._

But now Yami is gone, and Yuugi has to learn to be not be afraid of the dark on his own.

The first week was the worst. He never stopped missing his other half but the first week was the worst, because he didn't just miss him, he kept _expecting_ him. For those seven horrible days he kept turning around to ask something, or reach for the puzzle or expect to see him in the mirror...

A hand reached out from under the blanket and blindly felt for the snooze button in vain. "Mm...it's too early..." Having been unsuccesful in his attempt to quiet the annoying contraption, the hand retreated. A moment later, Yuugi emerged from under the covers. Taking the alarm clock into his hands and turned it off. Planning on sleeping in for just a little longer, he replaced the alarm clock and murmured a quiet "Good morning the other me...". The hands that were about to pull the covers over his head froze.

...only to realize that Yami wasn't there anymore. It was at those moments that he felt utterly alone.

Despite it all, he refused to just crawl into a corner and mope there for the rest of his life, tempting as it was. His friends would worry and he's sure that Atemu would disapprove.

He's on his own now (or as on his own as he could be with all his friends) and he has to be brave and strong and smart as well as kind and stand up all on his own. Because, even if he may not be here anymore, Yuugi intends to live in a fashion that Atemu would be proud of.

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Yuugi has found that losing one half of your soul is comparable to losing a limb. You can get replacements and you'll like them just fine. After all, having a prosthetic is better than having nothing at all. But, even if you know it's pointless, you can't help but to compare one to the other and, at the end of the day, if given the choice, you'd leave the prosthetic behind in a heartbeat if you could get your old limb back.

People are not prosthetic limbs.

Yuugi really did love Himiko. She was funny, out-going, charming and sweet. She had this nice little laugh and she could bake (in fact, maybe a little too well if his kitchen was any proof).

If only she'd understand his love for games.

If only she could understand his moods better.

If only...

It wasn't fair, what he was doing to her.

At the age of twenty, Yuugi Mutou ended his last relationship and accepted the fact that losing one half of your soul is not something that you can truly get over.

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"Hey Yuugi, look!"

The little girl in Jounouchi's arms squealed. "Look!"

Yuugi looked up from his conversation with Ryou. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary; just Jou and six year old Akiko. Both grinning ear-to-ear. Though his adoptive daughter probably didn't know what was so amusing exactly. He smiled teasingly. "Yes, I do believe that's my daughter, Jou."

"Aw, Yuugi, didn't you notice?"

"Notice!"

"She's gotten taller!"

"Taller!"

In fact, Yuugi hadn't really noticed. Probably because he saw Akiko everyday. But now that he mentioned it...

"Hm, you're right."

"Right!"

"Yeah, if she keeps it up, she won't end up a pipsqueak like you." He chuckled. Akiko was not amused and she showed it by huffing.

"He's not a pipsqueak." This made the whole room chuckle. She crossed her petite arms. "He's not."

"'Course not." He chuckled again. "I swear Yuugi, your kid's almost as protective of you as the other Yuugi..."

It was about then that Anzu stepped on his foot.

"Ow! I'm holding a kid here! What are you trying to do, make me drop her?"

"Who's 'the other Yuugi'?" Akiko stared, wide-eyed with curiosity, previous game of repeating everyone's last word forgotten.

Jounouchi glanced at Yuugi nervously. "Hey how about a duel? I bet your dad has taught you a few new tricks..."

She pouted. "Nooo!" Akiko had grown up around and with (censored) stories about her dad's adventures and misadventures and she loved every single one. And she wanted to hear this one. "Story!"

Anzu smiled at the little girl in her friends arms almost desperately. "Oh you don't want to hear _that_ story! It's really boring..."

While Anzu and Jounouchi tried to distract Akiko, Yuugi just sat there.

The other Yuugi. It was a subject that no one had really brought up in a long time. At first it was because the void left by him was still too new to them. Later, especially after Yuugi's last attempt at dating, they were afraid that the topic would be too painful.

"If you want Yuugi, I can punch him."

It was strange. Years ago, just thinking about his other half would've made him uneasy. Years ago, just thinking about his other half would've brought back, in vivid detail, those last painful moments of parting and the weeks that followed. Years ago, just thinking about his other half would make him feel a sort of bitter sweet mixture of happiness and despair that would leave him teary eyed.

"Yuugi," Ryou put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you all right?"

Yuugi paused.

_Was_ he all right?

"Yeah," He smiled. "I guess I am." He directed his attention back to his daughter and his two friends. "Akiko, come here." Akiko squirmed and Jounouchi, looking as if he was acting on some sort of auto-pilot, let her down. Yuugi didn't need to see to know that all his friends had their eyes trained on him as Akiko scrambled onto his lap. He gently petted her hair. "How about I tell you a story?"

"About the other Yuugi?" She asked, bright-eyed and innocent never noticing how the people she had come to knows as uncles and aunt draw in a quick breath.

Yuugi did, but chose not to comment. "Yes, about the other Yuugi." The smile didn't leave his face. "Once upon a time, there was a little boy with no friends..."

It was strange, because after all this time it feels as if all the unhappy memories, though present, did not seem to be as important anymore. Suddenly, Yuugi could think of the name Yami and Atemu with only happiness, pride and love, and not saddness and loss.

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"...after the spirit left for the afterlife, the little boy learned to stand up on his own." The old man smiled down at his granddaughter, "The end." She frowned back. "What's the matter Miya-chan? I thought you loved that story?"

"I do." She admitted before crossing her arms and pouting. "But I don't like the ending. Change it."

He chuckled. The girl's mother however did not share his amusement.

"Don't be rude Miyako." She admonished. He chuckled again. "Dad, stop encouraging her."

He smiled at her.

She shook her head lightly. "Honestly..." She murmured, half exasperated and half amused. "Go to bed Miya-chan."

Miyako made as if to argue.

"Do as your mother says Miya-chan or..." He whispered to her so that her mother couldn't hear. Miyako giggled. Her mother just rolled her eyes.

"Good night grandpa." She hugged him and said, "And change the story's ending, 'kay?" Before dashing out of the room.

The mother shook her head. "She has so much energy...I just know it must be your fault."

The old man just chuckled again.

She stopped at the doorway. "I never liked the ending either." He just made a small non-commital sound at the back of his throat. "You deserve a better one."

"I don't know. I think that it all ended pretty well."

She stared back at him sadly. "But you never got to see him again."

"Life's not perfect Akiko, and this is already pretty close."

She let out a sigh that was half exasperated and half something else. "If you say so...good night dad." She closed the door quietly behind her.

_"Partner..."_

"I know."

That night, Mutou Yuugi passed away at age seventy-one.

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A sliver of sunlight crept in from between the curtains and into a room littered with various puzzles and games. In the middle of the room was a bed with a lump resting peacefully on it. The alarm clock on the bedside table broke the peace.

The lump groaned and from underneath the blankets a hand emerged and blindly groped for the distubance. Hitting the snooze button atop the device, the hand retreated back under the blanket. The peace returned.

It lasted for about a minute.

The lump sprang into action.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no..." The boy scampered hap-hazardly around the room all the while repeating the mantra. After putting his shirt on (backwards) he made to pull on his socks. "Oh for the love of--where's the other one?" Large amethyst eyes first scanned the room before he crounched down on the floor and reached underneath. While doing so, he caught sight of a book laying innocently beside his clock.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did he stay up so late reading when he _knew_ he was meeting his friends? Now he'll be late! But there was something about the story...

His fingers brushed against something and pulled it out.

"Please be a sock, please, please, please..."

Well, it _was_ a sock, now if only it was the right one.

"Good enough." He muttered while slipping it on.

He pulled his bedroom door with (perhaps) more force than necessary all the while chanting the word "late" under his breath.

"I'm leaving!" Without waiting for a response, he jammed his feet into his shoes and left.

"Late, late, late, late..."

Even in his haste, he still couldn't help but think that it was all that stupid book's fault. Other than that Yuugi didn't notice anything else.

Not even the televised interview with the author of "that stupid book"...

"So, Kagasaki-sensei what do you think about the popularity of your newest book?"

A young woman smiled. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. Out of all my work, this was probably the only one I was positive would touch people most."

"And why is that?"

"Because it was a story my grandfather used to tell me and my mother all the time."

"Ah, so it is your grandfather's story?"

"Yeah, mostly."

"Mostly? So you made changes?"

"Well, my mother wouldn't let me make a lot of changes; said it was too important to grandfather. So I really only changed the ending a little."

Mind still preoccupied with the horror of being late and the idiocy of him staying up late reading, he also failed to notice someone else turning the corner.

They collided.

_At the end of all their adventures, the spirit had to move on to the afterlife and the boy learned to stand up all on his own._

"Sorry! Are you all right? I should've been looking where I was going! I'm so sorry!"

"It's all right."

"..."

"Um...do I know you from somewhere?"

"...funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing."

_But it was not the end. Some day, the spirit and the boy's lives will touch again and they can once again be each other's strength. Someday they will find each other again and neither of them will be lonely anymore._

end

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Until recently, whenever I receive notice from about people reviewing for my old stories, or adding it to their favourites, or anything else, I don't really think about it much. 

Then, recently, I went to go actually take a look at the stuff I have on there. My Yu-Gi-Oh! fics in particular made me especially embarassed.

Exactly what kind of crack had I been on back then?

So, this was to be put up at in a "Woo, look, this is so much more well written, please stop reading all my old junk. Please.".

Really, please, stop reading all my old stuff. If I weren't afraid there were people who (for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom) really liked them, I would delete them permanently, if only so I could better pretend they never existed.

I have new stuff. More well written stuff at my homepage. I won't lie, this is the only YGO related thing on it, but there are two more one-shots I'm writing write now and I'm too lazy to format them twice like I did with this one, so they'll only appear on my homepage.

Putting up stuff on is significantly more complicated than putting stuff up on my own website... --"

Homepage: http://orangeinsanity.


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